Muses On my own I listen to the radio There are songs for astonished young lovers deranged by desire There are verses for broken hearts dumped and depressed There are anthems of revenge with a beat of hurting rage There are misogynistic marches – a soundtrack for the beautiful babes There are triumphant celebrations of […]
Complimentary therapy – 100 words
Complimentary therapy Hello there, You look amazing, that sparkle in your eyes I feel so much better when I see you I know you don’t think it’s much, but what you’ve achieved is astonishing not many people could do that you should be proud it’s so funny – and clever. You made me properly LOL! […]
Impertinent insects – 100 words
Impertinent insects All it takes is one bright day when premature spring warms the roof and I hear buzzing, see a dark flitting at the edge of sight, a flicker of flying filth, dark dot clusters spotting surfaces. That itchy zoom-past and you know peace is impossible. Nature’s design has a place for everything, I […]
International Women’s Day – 100 words
International Women’s Day A genetic coin toss heads you win tails you’re a girl sometimes it lands on its end or rolls under the sofa – but that’s not a win, is it? Girl side up (generally) you get bosoms, the chance to have it all, femininity – whatever that might be – babies: the […]
Worm Moon – 100 words
Worm moon There they are under warming soil and roots, wriggling and writhing their way up to turn pointy faces or bums (you can’t tell which) to the eponymous moon. But they’re wrong. Lunar worms are lavae of American beetles spotted waking from frost by the Naudowessie people each March. Their North Dakotan neighbours call […]
Man shops – 100 words
Man shops A man makes his living from pretending to be someone else Lots of someone elses Impossible to tell if he’s any good because all the someone elses are alike A type, perhaps He’s popular, though Probably swagger, cheekbone angles, an insouciance sewn onto a leather waistcoat Not many men could carry that off […]
Aye IA – 100 words
Aye AI It’s the latest addition to the frightening list soon, they say, we wordsmiths will be unnecessary machines will vomit everything they need to get our messages across. Across where? Who knows? Giant buckets of dictionaries, heated, agitated until, with a burp of punctuation, a sentence escapes. A grammatically correct construction: born to be […]
Disproportionate response – 100 words
Disproportionate response To the boulderer I met in the wood, I said I’m sorry my dog startled you, and I know some people find animals scary. What more could I say? I wasn’t ignoring you when I walked away – the opposite – I’d heard every word and when you got to the bit where […]